Breadfruit, or 'ulu in Hawaiian, was one of the ‘canoe crops’ brought by early Polynesian voyagers to Hawaii centuries ago. There are uncountable proverbs and legends about 'ulu, in one of them the god Ku, fell in love with a mortal woman, married and started a family with her. During the time of a horrible famine, he transformed himself into a breadfruit tree to feed his family. The small root shoots that grew from the tree, were spread to family and friends and the source of all ‘ulu trees in the islands.

Breadfruit is a very popular staple from Sri Lanka through Seychelles to Hawaii with hundreds of different recipes. Breadfruit is often used in savory dishes: you can slice and fry it like French fries, make a curry with it, use it instead of potato or rice as a side dish (for example make mashed breadfruit or gnocchi with it), make a casserole with it, a soup, or hummus. However, during the ripening process, the starch in breadfruit transforms into sugar, yielding a super creamy, smooth, custardy texture which makes it a perfect ingredient for desserts! Make a coconut-breadfruit pudding, a custard,popsicles, vegan pancakes or an out-of-this-world delicious lilikoi-breadfruit pie that we made the other day! It was incredibly creamy, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, sugar-free and RAW!

Plus, breadfruit is not only delicious, but also good for you, as it contains a good amount of potassium, calcium, copper, magnesium, iron, and fiber. :)

DirectionsTo make the crust, place all the crust ingredients in a food processor and blend until you have a nice, crunchy consistency. Use coconut oil to grease a spring form pan or a round pie pan. Press the crust on the bottom and on the sides. Tip: grease your hands to make this process easier and less sticky. :)

To make the filling, cut the breadfruit in half and remove the core. Scoop the creamy flesh into the food processor with a spoon. Blend it with the other filling ingredients until it's smooth. Spread the filling over the crust with a spatula, and freeze for about 1 hour to set.

Enjoy this totally guilt-free, 100% raw beauty!

PS. breadfruit is seasonal and not always available so make sure to pick up a breadfruit next time you see one at the Napili Farmers Market!

Avocado or alligator pear is one of the most popular fruits at the Napili Farmers Market (Wait, what? Avocado is a fruit? Yes, it is actually a berry!) and for a good reason.Avos have nearly 20 different vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients - they're better than a multi-vitamin! Being one of the few high-protein fruits, they also provide a significant amount of monounsaturated fats. Thanks to this feature, you can swap avocados into baked goods recipes for butter - they’ll help keep baked goods moister for a longer period of time.And how much do we actually like avocados? A lot! 1.6 billion avocados were consumed in the United States in 2012! We are so lucky that avocados grow in abundance here, on Maui and they are available almost year-round so we never have to lack this delicious veggie-fruit.

Key limes are citrus hybrid fruits that are more aromatic, with tarter and more floral juice and with a thinner rind. They are originally native to Southeast Asia but now cultivated throughout the world. These tiny limes have a very distinctive flavor and a lot of juice! Key lime pie is probably the most well-known recipe and it was originally made with sweetened condensed milk - do you know why? Because fresh milk wasn't available in the Keys when the recipe was developed! Now, fresh milk is available but we have a great recipe with coconut milk which is a dairy-free alternative. Fresh or canned, whatever you have on your hands.

Instructions:Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar/honey, and butter in a bowl with a fork until combined well, then press mixture evenly onto bottom and up side of a 9-inch pie plate.Bake crust in middle of oven for 10 minutes and cool in pie plate on a rack. Leave oven on but decrease the temperature to 275-300°F, depending on your oven.

Whisk together coconut milk and eggs in a bowl until combined well. Add juice, zest and sugar/honey, whisk until combined well. Pour filling into crust and bake in middle of oven for an hour. Cool pie on rack for 10-15 minutes then bon appetite!

The mango season just kicked off a couple weeks ago and one of the most beloved fruits is now available in abundance at the Napili Farmers Market for a few months. We carry mangoes grown in Kihei on the South Shore, and in Lahaina, on the West Side of Maui.

We love mangoes so much, that's why we'd like to share 10 interesting facts with you about this amazing plant!

1. Mangoes are originally indigenous to India where they were grown over 5000 years ago.

2. Mango seeds traveled with humans from Asia to the Middle East, East Africa and South America beginning around 300 or 400 A.D. and they are now grown throughout the tropics, including Hawaii.

3. Besides the three most consumed varieties in the US (Francis, Haden and Tommy Atkins), there are over 2,000 different varieties of mangoes ranging in size from a few ounces to as much as four pounds and ranging in color from yellow, orange and red to green.

4. Most of the mangos sold in the U.S. come from Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Guatemala and Haiti. Tropical and sub-tropical countries produce 20 million metric tons of mangoes every year.

5. An evergreen mango tree can grow as tall as 100 feet and live as long as 300 years.

6. Mangos are related to cashews and pistachios.

7. Mango is the national fruit of India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, and the national tree of Bangladesh.

8. They are all an excellent source of vitamins C and E, niacin, potassium, iron, and beta carotene.

9. Although mangoes are still considered to be exotic fruits in North America, ranking as number 24 of the top 25 fruits consumed in the US, they are considered to be staples in India, South Asia, China and Latin America.

10. As a matter of fact mango is the most consumed fruit in the world.

According to the CNN the Hawaii State Department of Health has confirmed six cases of rat lungworm disease on the island of Maui and three cases on the Big Island over the past three months, an official said Monday. Although no deaths have been reported, it is important that we talk about the problem and we educate ourselves and our community. We take every precautions at the Napili Farmers Market to prevent the disease but we strongly advise that you too throughly wash and inspect the produce you buy, wherever you buy it.

What is rat lungworm disease?

Rat lungworm is a parasite, a nematode (Angiostrongylus cantenosis) that was carried from Southeast Asia to Hawaii by rats. The parasite primarily lives in rats which are the host - the parasite can fully mature in them. Slugs and snails, which eat rat feces, can serve as intermediate hosts, allowing the parasite to grow to a stage where it is capable of causing infection, though never to full adulthood (and so never capable of reproduction).

How do people get infected?

People may get infected through ingestion of larvae in raw or undercooked snails, slugs, prawns, crabs and frogs or from contaminated water and vegetables. Snail and slug slime might be infectious as well.

What are the symptoms?

Although most cases are not severe, a rare case can lead to coma or even death. Early symptoms can be headache, stiffness in the neck, nausea and vomiting, fever, abdominal pain, fatigue, itchy skin, joint pain. If untreated, the parasite might attack the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord. The illness usually lasts between two weeks and two months, and on average, the incubation period is one to three weeks, however, an infection can incubate in only a single day or in six weeks. People do not become contagious, so they cannot transmit the infection to someone else.

How can you prevent it?

Prevention begins with cleanliness and proper cooking. Make sure that the foods you eat are cooked properly, your vegetables are washed, especially the leafy, curly greens. It's important to appropriately store, inspect, and wash produce, including fruits. Boil snails, freshwater prawns, crabs and frogs for at least three to five minutes before eating. Catchment tanks for rainwater should be covered to prevent slugs and snails from gaining access. Young children should be watched while playing outdoors so they don't accidentally put a snail or slug in their mouths.

What is the treatment?

Humans are not the host that parasite can complete its life cycle in, as opposed to being in a rat, that's why when it gets in a human, it can get lost, it might go to the brain, and it might stay there. When that happens, eosinophilic meningitis develops. This form of meningitis, a swelling of the thin membrane covering the spinal cord and brain, specifically caused by the parasite. Doctors tend to treat it with a combination of therapies, including anthelmintics - antiparasitic drugs - cortical steroids and supportive care. Since the parasites cannot mature or reproduce in humans, they will die eventually, but in the meantime, they may cause physical problems.

What should you do if you think you might have the disease?

You should seek immediate health care and professional help and inform the doctor about your suspicion.

Zoodles or zucchini noodles are a great way to incorporate more vegetables in you diet. They are full of nutrients, vitamins and fiber, low in calories, and obviously gluten-free so if you try to cut back on carbohydrates, like pasta, this is a way to go! This meal is super easy and totally fool-proof, the only part that can take a little time is processing the zucchinis into strips.

The vegetables provide vitamins, fiber and nutrients, the nuts, the avocado and the lentils provide good, healthy fats and protein so this meal is not only delicious and quick but super-healthy as well. If you've never had a 'pasta' sauce made with nuts, you should give it a try, you won't regret it! Are you inspired? Come get your vegetables, lemon, avocado, cilantro, macadamia nuts, tahini and flavored salt at the Napili Farmers Market and you will only need a few more ingredients!Bon appetite!

Ingredients:3-4 large zucchinihalf of a red cabbage1/4 cup + 1/4 cup olive oila juice of one lemon1 cup of lentils8 oz green beans1 cup of nuts (we used macadamia nuts and cashews, mixed)3-4 heaped tablespoons tahinisalt and pepper1 ripe avocadoabout a cup of water3-4 cloves of garlic, or Asafoetida if you are on a sattvic dieta small handful of chopped cilantrohalf a cup sunflower seeds

Instructions:Process zucchinis into strips like pasta. Use a spiralizer if you have one, if you don't, you can use a food processor with its shredding blade. You'll have short strips but they will work. :) Shred cabbage to very thin shreds and mix with zucchini. Add 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 -2 tablespoon lemon juice and salt to zucchini strips and marinate for an hour.Cook lentils according to the instructions on the package (it's very easy, just pour water and lentils in a pot, bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the temperature and simmer until lentils are done). In the meantime boil water and cook green beans just for a few minutes - you want them to remain crunchy and fresh.For the sauce, blend mac nuts, cashews, 1/4 olive oil, tahini, 1-2 tablespoon lemon juice, water, garlic or Asafoetida, avocado, salt and pepper in a food processor until smooth. Pour sauce on top of each serving, top with chopped cilantro and sunflower seeds. Enjoy!

It's Monday evening, you just got home from work, the family is hungry, you want to make something delicious, healthy AND quick. Take this recipe and your dinner will be ready in 15 minutes. This Thai kale salad is super easy, yet very delicious. Grab most of your ingredients at the Napili Farmers Market on the West Side of Maui.

Ingredients:

SALAD:

1 cup green beans, stems removed, steamed and chopped

2-3 inches leak, chopped

2 big bunch lacinato/dino kale, torn into bite-size pieces

3 whole carrots, ribboned

1 cup red cabbage, shredded

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 tsp soy sauce

3 tsp sesame oil

sesame seeds

DRESSING:

1/3 cup cashews and peanuts, mixed

2-3 Tbsp soy sauce

about an inch fresh ginger

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1-2 Tbsp honey

2-3 Tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp chili garlic sauce

Instructions:

Cook green beans slightly in boiling water, just for a few minutes so they remain crunchy. Mix with 1 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp sesame oil and set aside. Add kale to a large mixing bowl, drizzle with lime juice and 2 tbsp sesame oil and use your hands to massage it to soften. Set aside.Add dressing ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth. You might need to add some hot water to make it pourable.Add green beans, cabbage, leak, carrot ribbons and cilantro to the kale mixture and toss it with dressing. Drizzle with sesame seeds and more cilantro - and enjoy!

(if you want to keep it for later, store dressing and salad separately.)

Everybody likes pizza and, although it might not be the most healthy dish in the world, it doesn't have to be unhealthy either. If you prepare the crust and the marinara at home, you take a big step towards a healthier version of the big favorite.We, at the Napili Farmers Market, think that vegetarian diet is better for the human body (and for the world too) so we only use vegetarian toppings and ingredients. Make your list and grab your ingredients on your next visit at the best farmers market on the West Side of Maui! 🍕 🍕

In a large mixing bowl combine the yeast and warm water. Stir then let sit for about 5-10 minutes, or until the yeast is foamy and dissolved. Add flour, olive oil, salt, and sugar. Mix well using your hands.

When mixed, knead for 5-10 minutes by hand. If your dough is too wet, add a little more flour to it, no more than 1/4 cup each time, though! After kneading, your dough should be smooth and elastic.

Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large mixing bowl that you've coated lightly with olive oil. Turn it over to coat all sides or use a brush to oil it evenly. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm environment.

Depending on the type of yeast, your dough will have doubled in size in about 1 - 2 hours. Punch the dough down to release the air.

Split the dough into two. Roll each half into a ball and let rest in two separate bowls lightly covered for 15 minutes. This crust freezes super well, so you can just cover your dough lightly with oil and place it in a freezer bag, or wrap it in plastic wrap.

Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Oil a baking sheet with olive oil. You can line the sheet with aluminum foil as well but we do not recommend to use parchment paper.

After 15 minutes, flatten your ball of dough on a lightly floured surface to the desired shape or you can press it onto your baking sheet as well.

Top with marinara sauce of your choice (recipe below!) and with your favorite toppings and bake for about 30 minutes but keep a close eye on it. Depending on your oven, your toppings and how thin you flattened the crust, it might take less or more time for your pizza to be done.

Slice hot pizza and serve immediately.

And then a super easy and customizable, homemade marinara sauce recipe:Ingredients (for one big pizza):

olive oil

3-4 big tomatoes, chopped

one medium onion, chopped

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced

oregano and basil

chili flakes or fresh jalapeno

salt and pepper

any fresh herb, chopped

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, add chopped onions and sauté until translucent then add garlic and cook until fragrant.

Taste it, if necessary, adjust seasoning and add your fresh herb. We like to use cilantro, basil, parsley, even arugula. Transfer mixture to a blender or food processor and blend until required consistency.

Voila!

The other day we made a killer pizza with this crust and marinara and topped it with chopped leak, bell peppers and 3 cheese (brie, Parmesan and cheddar). Yum!

Lilikoi (a.k.a. passionfruit or Passiflora edulis in Latin) is one of the most loved fruits in Hawaii but a lot of people are reluctant to try it because it looks like nothing that they have seen before. So here comes 10 facts about lilikoi, so next time when you're on West Maui, you won't think twice to visit the Napili Farmers Market and pick up some of these mini flavor bombs!

1. While lilikoi's exact origin is unknown, there are several theories about where it came from. It might have been native native to southern Brazil through Paraguay to northern Argentina but according to others, it might have come originate from Australia.

2. The passionfruit is a pepo, a type of berry that has a hard outer rind without membranes within the fruit.

3. Lilikoi is a vigorous vine species of passion flower which often grows over 20 ft in a single year.

4. Several distinct varieties of passionfruit with different exterior appearances exist. The most common varieties are yellow (golden passionfruit) and purple (purple passionfruit). The yellow passionfruit is generally bigger, up to the size of a grapefruit, the purple passionfruit is smaller than a lemon and has a richer aroma and flavor.

6. The flower of the passion fruit is the national flower of Paraguay.

7. Passionfruit is widely grown in several countries of South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, Southern Asia, Vietnam, Israel, Australia, South Korea, Hawaii and mainland United States in Florida and California.

8. Raw passionfruit is 73% water and has significant amount of vitamin C: 100 grams fresh passionfruit contain 36% of the Daily Value of it.

Believe it or not, evenings and nights can get chilly in Hawaii too, at least on the West Side of Maui in the wintertime. When the wind and rain come and it feels good to stay at home, under a blanket, a delicious, warm soup can warm you up:) Try this spicy, vegan fall soup recipe! You can buy squash, ginger, onion, fennel and Cayenne salt at the Napili Farmer Market!

Preheat oven to 375° and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (in our experience parchment paper doesn't always work and you want to be able to 'peel' the foil off of the squash)

Rub some coconut oil over the cut side of squash and place cut side down on baking sheet and place in oven. Cook the squash until it's tender - about an hour but it depends on the size of it. Let the squash cool off then scoop squash out into a bowl and set aside.

Heat coconut oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sliced onions, sauté until they are soft, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the fennel and ginger, and cook for about 5 minutes - until you can smell good scents:) Add the kabocha, bay leaf, water, salt, pepper, turmeric and curry powder. Add the coconut milk, stir thoroughly and cook the soup for roughly 30 minutes.

When soup is ready, puree it in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Transfer soup back to the pot, bring to a low simmer and taste for seasoning, adjust if necessary.

Almost everybody likes chocolate and cocoa powder but do you know where they are from or how they look like before processing? Or what does processing mean?

Theobroma cacao, also called cacao tree and cocoa tree, is a small (13–26 ft tall) evergreen tree, originally native to the deep tropical regions of Central and South America. Cacao also grows in Hawaii so sometimes it is available at Napili Farmers Market. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make cocoa mass, cocoa powder, and chocolate. Processing basically means fermentation, drying and grinding, then further procedures, depending on the desired product.

As an experiment, we are about to ferment some cacao nibs then hopefully dry them out, then go from there! This is what we've done so far:

We opened the pods, took the beans out, made a heap of beans on a banana leaf then we covered them with another banana leaf and left them in a flat and dry spot where they will ferment for a couple of days. More photos and progress to come! :)

These are the final photos of our cacao... We fermented the cacao nibs for 3 days - at first, the nibs became a little bit darker and smelly, then the smell started slightly resembling to chocolate and the pulp slowly disappeared, then the nibs started to dry out (1st pic). We kept the nibs on the roof (literally) for a week, protected from rain but in the sun, and they turned darker and drier (2nd pic). As the final step, we ground the nibs in a coffee grinder - you can see the cacao powder in the last photo. It is not as fine as a store-bought cacao powder would be but it's all natural, locally grown and homemade and that's hard to beat!

So next time if you see cacao pods at the Napili Farmers Market, don't be afraid to purchase some! It might take 2-3 weeks until you have your own cacao powder but it's definitely worth it.

We, at the Napili Farmers Market, truly believe in the importance of buying and eating locally grown produce, especially in Hawaii, as currently, 85% of our food comes from out of state, despite the fact that Maui has the land and the resources to become self-reliant in our food supply. Please, find ten reasons below to buy local food.

Locally grown food:

tastes better and it is full of flavor because locally grown crops are picked at their peak of ripeness

is better for your health since it's full of nutrients and hasn't travelled thousands of miles

preserves genetic diversity

is safe because there is no hundred steps between you and the source

supports local families and local economy

builds community

keeps your taxes in check

supports a clean environment and benefits wildlife

reduces global warming by eliminating the need for transportation from a long distance

You have probably tried macadamia nuts in your life, maybe raw or roasted, perhaps chocolate covered ones or in cookies but do you know where they are come from and why you should eat them on a regular basis? If not, you might find these facts interesting.

Macadamia nuts, one of the healthiest nuts, originated in Australia. They are named for John Macadam, a Scottish born physician and chemist who promoted the nuts' cultivation in Australia.

Macadamia trees were imported to Hawaii in 1881 as a windbreak for sugarcane, which was a major commercial export for Hawaii at the time. The first commercial orchards of macadamias in Hawaii were not planted until 1921.

Most of the world’s macadamia nuts are now grown on the island of Hawaii, approximately 90% of the world’s supply. The USA is the largest consumer of macadamia nuts in the world (51%) with Japan following at 15%.

From the Proteacea family of plants, evergreen macadamia trees can reach 40 feet in horizontal as well as vertical spread. Only 2 of the 9 species of macadamia trees produce nuts that are edible. Macadamia nuts are not picked from the tree but are fully ripened when they fall and are then harvested. They are a tough nut to crack: it takes 300 lbs per square inch to break the macadamia nut shell, hardest of all nut shells.

Macadamia nuts are higher in good, monounsaturated fat and lower in protein than a lot of other nuts we eat, like almonds and cashews and have been demonstrated to help reduce overall cholesterol levels. Other healthy nutrients in macadamia nuts include the amino acid l-arginine, vitamin B1, and magnesium, and they’re an excellent source of manganese and thiamin.

At the Napili Farmers Market we carry raw macadamia nuts and macadamia nut butter as well which contains only raw macadamia nuts and is heavenly delicious! You can put it on toast with sliced bananas, make desserts with it, put a little bit of it in your morning smoothie or just have a spoonful if you have a sweet tooth:)

This recipe is really simple and totally foolproof. Even if you are not big in baking, you should try it because it is not only delicious but healthy, vegan, sugar and gluten-free as well! Makes a perfect on-the go breakfast. And you can buy half of the ingredients at the Napili Farmers Market! :)

How to make it: Preheat oven to 375 and position a rack in the center. Thoroughly grease a muffin tin with coconut oil. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir until combined. Spoon into muffin cups. Top with a few chopped mac nuts and a slice of banana. Place tin in the oven and bake until oatmeal cups are firm to the touch, about 20-25 minutes (it might take a little bit longer, depending on your oven) Wait a couple of minutes for oatmeal cups to cool before running a knife around the edges and removing them from the tin. Enjoy!

We just love breadfruit! It is a fruit that "acts" like a vegetable and so versatile! You can roast it in the oven, fry it, boil it, mash it, make pudding with it, or you can make an awesome breadfruit curry with it, like this one below (right photo).

Breadfruit is very rich in starch which transforms to sugars when very ripe so if your breadfruit is already brown or yellow and soft or squishy (that means the fruit is ripe), you better make a dessert with it instead of a savory dish. If your breadfruit is firm and green, then it's still rich in starch and resembles to the taste of freshly baked bread or potato. Breadfruit or in Hawaiian 'Ulu, is seasonal: you can find it from November to June. Look for it at Napili Farmers Market on the beautiful West Side of Maui!

Start with the peas: boil them in 8 oz water with a pinch of salt and curry powder in a small pot. You may have to add more water, check it in every 5 minutes and add water if needed.

Place the curry leaves, turmeric and curry powder in a pot and dry roast them until they get fragrant. Put a little water in the spices, mix it well and put the onion and garlic in it. Saute the mixture for a couple minutes, then put the breadfruit pieces in it. Saute it again for a couple minutes. Add the chilies, the grated ginger, the pepper, salt to taste and the coconut milk to it, stir it well and leave it boil. If the breadfruit is ready (taste it, if it's soft, it's ready), add the peas, bring it to a boil once then you are ready. Serve it with rice or naan.